The Greenville Zoo announced today that the pair of ocelot kittens born to Oz and Evita on March 8 are males. Now that the kittens’ gender is known, members of the zoo staff have created a list of possible names and are asking the public to vote on their favorite. To vote go to https://ocelotcontest.eventbrite.com
With a $5 contribution, zoo supporters can cast their vote for one of the pairs of names below. There is no limit on the number of votes that an individual can submit; however, each requires a $5 contribution. Voting will remain open through Monday, June 19 at midnight (EDT).
- Dale & Junior
- Pancho & Lefty
- Stewart & Gordon
- Clint & Edward
- Smoke & Outlaw
- James & Conner
- Leonard & Sheldon
- Porter & Stout
- Barley & Rye
All of the money raised through the name selection will be donated to a conservation program called “Selfies in the Forest” by the Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas (IPE). The IPE organization is located in Brazil and conducts research on ocelots, including through the use of camera traps, as a means of monitoring the entire rain forest ecosystem.
The winning names will be announced on Wednesday, June 21, along with the amount of money raised through the voting process.
According to Greenville Zoo director Jeff Bullock, with so many babies born at the zoo in the past year or so, it has been an especially exciting and rewarding time for the zoo staff. “We welcomed a baby Masai giraffe (Tatu) and baby Angolan colobus monkey (Zuri) in 2016, a baby siamang (Arthur, Jr.) this past January and of course, the baby ocelots in March, so it’s been a lot of fun for us and for our visitors,” said Bullock. “It’s not an overstatement to say that the future of many species lies in all of our hands, so we hope that seeing and learning about these baby animals will inspire everyone in our community to support conservation efforts here and across the world.”
To view a short video of all the Greenville Zoo babies, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk0f4QZ5iT8.